Expressions of Perceptions

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I’m trying to purge my house of “things”.  My oldest daughter was recently diagnosed with multiple allergies, the most severe of which is, according to her blood test, caused by dust.  Well, the fewer things we have, the fewer things for dust to cling to.  Apparently though, we aren’t the only ones getting rid of things.

My pastor’s wife, a wonderful friend of mine, called and asked me to come over to her house to get some clothes for myself and my children.  She said a woman in town had donated 18 big rubbermaid totes full of assorted clothing left over from a yard sale.  The woman didn’t want the clothing to go to Goodwill where it would be sold.  Instead, she wanted people to have it for free.

That really is a great idea.  I know that when I’m getting rid of things, I usually try to think of someone to offer them to.  If I can’t think of anyone, I take the items to Goodwill.  Sometimes I even just throw things away, but those are things I deem pretty useless, so hopefully that’s not too incredibly wasteful.

I never bother to get a donation receipt from Goodwill, but I know that some people do for tax purposes.  Donations to churches are tax-deductible, too.

I had never thought of donating my “things” to a church before, but this woman has definitely given me a different perspective.  How many families are there that the church could help with used clothing?  Could the church possibly use a slow cooker that I don’t have storage space for?  Would they know of families that can’t afford toys for their children that they could give my children’s old toys to?

I think donating to a church is a much better idea than just taking things to Goodwill.  It’s tax-deductible for you and free for the recipients of your “things”.  A church really is like a family, a community of people caring for each other.  They could give your unwanted “things” to others who aren’t even church members, possibly also giving them the opportunity to share the Gospel with others in the process.

Overall, I’d say donating to a church beats donating to Goodwill hands-down.

I buy a jar of herbal salve from a health food store every month, and I love it.  It’s made by the owners, and I totally trust them and their ingredients.  I, however, don’t like to rely on others for things.  I like making things myself as much as possible.  So, I decided to try to make the vitex (chastetree berry) salve that I usually buy.  Yeah, it would save money, too, but really, I’d just like to learn one more skill and add one more item to the long list of things that I no longer need to purchase.

I just ordered chastetree berries (vitex) from Savvy Teas and Herbs, and I’ve already got olive oil and beeswax.  I think I read that I need vitamin E oil to use as a preservative, too.  I’ll need to double-check on that.

From what I’ve read in my research, I’ll need to grind the chastetree berries in a coffee grinder, fill a glass jar with them, and top it off with enough olive oil to cover the herbs.  Then, I’ll need to put the jar on top of a wash cloth in a crock pot on the “low” setting for 2-3 days, refilling the water around the jar as it evaporates.

I’ll then need to strain the oil, put it in a double boiler on the stove, and warm it enough to melt the beeswax in it. 

That’s how you make a salve – melt beeswax and oil together.  Making an herbal salve is just melting herb-infused oil with beeswax.  The beeswax firms the oil so it’s not runny anymore. 

I’ve made salve before.  It’s just the herbal part that I haven’t done.  I hope it works.  I should have my chastetree berries in about a week or so, so I’ll find out soon.

Also, does anyone know how to make a wild yam salve???  The wild yam is a root, not an herb, so I’m not sure how to go about making wild yam infused oil.  I thought about just emptying a bottle of wild yam capsules into the oil.  Does anyone know if that would work?

I’ve got a house that is in need of repairs and cosmetic touch-ups before I advertise it for rent.  It’s a pretty small job for a regular contractor, so small that one might not even be interested in taking it on.  I thought I’d just hire a small-time contractor who does odd jobs.  Then, someone suggested a handyman. 

I hadn’t thought of hiring a handyman, but it made perfect sense.  A handyman would accept small jobs, be able to get to it quicker, and be more affordable.  So, where to get a handyman…

I didn’t actually know of any handymen, at least I didn’t know that I knew any, so I decided to just ask around.  Oddly enough, at church I asked the associate pastor’s wife if she knew of a good handyman, and she suggested her husband.  Who knew I already knew a handyman?!

So, I asked the associate pastor if he was interested in taking on the job.  He said he was.  It was great!  I was so relieved.

So now, I have a handyman.  His rates are very reasonable.  I trust him with a key to the house.  I trust his workmanship and competence.  Basically, I trust his integrity.

I know that I don’t have all the answers.  I’m so grateful that I have others to rely on for help, whether it be for advice, suggestions, work, or any other need I have.  I’m confident I hired the right man for the job, but I wouldn’t even have known to ask him had it not been for the wonderful care and suggestions of others.

I printed pages of coupons, cut them out, organized them, and put them in an envelope.  I made a shopping list for each store I needed to go to.  I packed my diaper bag.  I had my parking meter change.  I was ready to go, focused, sure I’d keep my expenses in check this trip.

I got into town, and there was a festival going on.  I knew that.  I just figured it’d be difficult to find a parking spot.  Not only was it difficult, the parking meters were covered with signs that said there was a 15-minute time limit.  15 minutes sounds fairly reasonable on Main Street.  Besides, I only needed to go to one store there, and it saved me about 25 cents on a parking meter.  So, I parked… 3 blocks from the store I needed to go to… with 3 young children.

I only needed to pick up my weekly farm share.  Surely I’d be back within 15 minutes, right?!  I tired to hurry my kids up the sidewalk, but it was so crowded.  We stayed together, got to the store, picked up our farm share, and were ready to go.

When we got back to the van, I found what I hoped was just a small business flyer on my windshield.  I was feeling slightly relieved that we’d made it back in time… until I read the word “ticket”.  Yep, a parking ticket.  Boy, that just about ruined my trip.  How much is this going to cost me? I wondered.

I unfolded the ticket, my first parking ticket ever, and was relieved to see “$5″.  $5.  That was it.  Unless I failed to pay it within 7 days, and then it would go up to $15.  My day was slightly less ruined, and I headed to the outskirts of town to go to the 3 remaining stores that I needed to go to.

In 2 stores, I used coupons.  I took slight comfort in telling myself that the money I saved using coupons offset the cost of the ticket.  Nonetheless, I messed up, and I had to pay for it.  Literally pay, with actual money.

I wrote a check and mailed it today.  I guess it’s little things like that that remind me that unexpected expenses can pop up at any time.  I’m glad I had enough money in my budget to cover this expense.  I’m grateful it was such a small expense compared to some of the big expenses, like vehicle repairs, I’ve had lately.  It also reinforces the idea that I need to have a savings.  Even though I didn’t need to dip in to my saving this time, I never know when I may have to.

So, that was my $5 lesson for the week.  Don’t get me wrong, I like to learn, but next time, if possible, I’d like to do it for free.

I just went to my freezer, not to get anything out of it, just to enjoy the cool air.  I’m not a fan of high temperatures.  I admit, summer is not my favorite season.  I’m one of “those” people who enjoys shoveling snow in winter and bundling up to take a nice cool walk.  Heat just isn’t my thing.

Thank God I’ve got a few window air conditioners here (one in the living room, one in the girls’ room, and one in the boy’s room).  I know I’ll be paying for it on my electric bill, but it’ll be well worth it!

So, what exactly are your options for cooling down in this scorching heat?  I suppose that depends on your budget.  I’d have to get a whole new heating system in order to have central air, and that is not in my budget, so window air conditioners were the next best thing.  What if your windows just won’t fit a window air conditioner?  There are portable air conditioners starting at $112.99 at Sears.  They’re just air conditioners that you don’t put in a window, a pretty simple and ingenious invention if you ask me.

Are air conditioners out of your price range?  You could try to suck the hot air out of your house by putting window fans in backwards.

Don’t have window fans?  Take a cool bath, drink some cold water, go to a swimming pool, swim at the beach, stand in front of your freezer (ok, not my greatest advice, but it is refreshing).  I’ve also read that running cold water over your wrists cools your body.  It has something to do with the blood flow there I think.

Don’t like any of those ideas?  How about going somewhere?  Drive, anywhere, with the air conditioning on.  Visit a friend or family member that you know has air conditioning.  Go to an air conditioned restaurant, store, or shopping mall.  Go grocery shopping – in the freezer section.  Go to an air conditioned church.  Go somewhere, anywhere, that’s cool.

If none of those ideas work for you, just try to be as lazy as possible.  Don’t heat up the house making dinner.  Don’t get over-heated doing housework.  Don’t take an evening walk if it’s too hot.  Just relax.

If you are too hot though, seek medical attention if you’re concerned about heat stroke or heat exhaustion.  And don’t forget to check on your elderly neighbors!

I pick up my farm share from Sage Meadow, a health food store in the neighboring town of Clarion, PA.  While I was there one day, I saw “Organic Chicken” advertised for $2.75 per pound.  I asked the owner about it and was told that it was organic, what farm it came from, and that the farmer also sold it at the farmer’s market.  A few weeks later, I went to the farmer’s market, met the farmer, and asked him about his chicken.  He told me that his chickens are fed commercial feed, non-organic commercial feed.  That means that the chicken isn’t really organic.

Now, without discussing the pros and cons of buying organic, it just isn’t right that the chicken is being sold as “organic” if it really isn’t.

I told the owner of the health food store, but she never changed the sign.  Weeks later, it still reads “Organic Chicken $2.75/pound”.

So, what’s the big deal?  The big deal is that people are being lied to and deceived out of their money!  They could get the same chicken at Walmart for a lot less money, but they truly believe that they’re buying organic.

What would you do if you knew that someone was charging more for something that was being falsely advertised?  I truly want to know.  This really bothers me that people are being deceived and paying more for this falsely advertised food.

And if you still think I’m making a big deal about the whole organic thing, replace the word “organic” with :”kosher”, “vegan”, “hypoallergenic”, or some other term that gets people to spend more money for a particular type of product.  False advertising is wrong no matter what the product is.

So, tell me, I really want to know:  What would you do???

O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
’Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

[Emphasis added in bold.]

My oldest daughter Aurora, who is only 4 years old, has been having such a rough time with knots in her hair lately, and the pool water definitely doesn’t help.  This morning, I convinced her to let me cut her hair and donate it to Locks of Love.  I didn’t give it much thought that this was her first real haircut.  She doesn’t even have bangs.

After I finished cutting the last few stray long hairs, Aurora said “It didn’t even hurt”.  Surprised, I replied, “You thought it was gonna hurt, but you let me cut your hair anyway?”.  Her incredibly heartwarming answer was “Well, it’s nice to do things for other people.  And there are kids who really need some hair…”.

Wow!  Such selflessness.  I wish I could take credit and use that as confirmation that I must be doing something right in raising her, but I can’t.  I’m not nearly that selfless.  That’s all God’s doing.

My daughter’s selflessness today is such a great example of what I should strive to be like, what everyone should strive to be like.  Selfless.  Christ-like. 

After that, I realized that my children will teach me way more than I could ever teach them.  I just hope I’m a good enough student to learn the lessons.  I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to be a mother.  I can’t imagine a better blessing on earth.

Aurora with her previously long hair

Well, I’ve got a bit of a sunburn on my shoulders, but I got peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, and zucchini planted this afternoon!  I wanted to have my garden planted a month ago, but my husband was in charge of getting the ground ready for me, and he wasn’t in near as much of a hurry as I was.  Nonetheless, I have finally been able to plant things!

Last year, I got 4 young blueberry bushes, which produced 1 single blueberry.  They’re doing much better this year though.  They’re all studded with blossoms just waiting to turn into scrumptious berries!

Last week, I planted corn, beets, carrots, swiss chard (which I’ve actually never even eaten before), romaine lettuce, green beans, wax beans, and peas.  Boy, it feels good to garden.

A little earlier this spring, I planted strawberries, peppermint, basil, parsley, and chives.  And I’m happy to announce that we got our first ripe strawberry today!  It was small, but it was very juicy.  (I know this because in the name of fairness, I had to divide the tiny little fruit between 3 children.)

Anyway, as I was watering my freshly-planted soon-to-be (hopefully) foods today, a little bird flew up and perched on one of my pea trellises.  I stood there admiring God’s creation.  He created plants and animals, and much more, and as He said, they are “good”.

It was relaxing to plant my starter plants, but I think my gardening gloves may have even given me super-human courage at one point.  A spider crawled up, and I squished him with my bare finger!  Well, my finger wasn’t really bare, it was in my gardening glove.  But I killed a spider with my hand instead of my shoe, so I dub that courage.

Anyway, I’m glad to be gardening.  I’m not exactly known for my green thumb, and my garden is in a pretty shady spot, so along with some compost, my method of “Miracle Grow” this year will be lots of prayer!

So tell me, how is your gardening going so far this year?

I like using soap nuts to wash my laundry, but my husband prefers liquid laundry detergent.  We were running low on liquid detergent, and I knew he wouldn’t try the soap nuts for his work uniforms (he’s “set in his ways”) so I figured I’d make some liquid detergent.  There are many different recipes for homemade laundry detergent, but here’s how I make mine:

Ingredients:

1 (14 oz.) box of baking soda (or 2 cups, doesn’t have to be exact)

2 (4 oz.) bars of pure olive oil soap (or whatever natural soap you choose)

4 gallons of water

1 (4 or 5 gallon) bucket with lid

*optional, 1 tsp. tea tree oil or other essential oil for fragrance

Directions:

1.  Grate the soap.  You’ll probably end up with around 3 cups of grated soap, and hopefully not monster muscles.  My olive ol soap grates easier than cheese, but I know that mainstream soaps are like rocks and could definitely give you some resistance.

2.  Put the baking soda and grated soap in the bucket.

3.  Add 1 gallon of hot water to the bucket, stir it around, put the lid on, and let it rest for and hour or so (or even overnight).  This will melt the soap and dissolve the baking soda.

4.  Remove the lid.  Stir.  Add the essential oil if you’re using it.  Add 3 gallons of room temperature water.  Stir again.  Put the lid back on, and congratulate yourself on making homemade laundry detergent.

Stir before using each time, or put in used laundry detergent bottles and shake before using.  It may be gooey or clumpy, that’s normal.  Use 1/2 cup per full load of laundry, or 1 cup for very soiled loads.

See, wasn’t that easy?!  Now, go wash some laundry!  Then, come back here and tell me how well it worked for you!